Spells, Blood, and Souls
by LittleDragonOfTruth
Summary: INDEFINITE HAITUS, See Profile/ Bakura's back and Ryou's off to England to stay with his Aunt and go to some exclusive boarding school. He meets Harry at the park when he's bored and the two of them decide to be bored together. More summary in profile.
1. Chapter 1

Written in Japanese Kanji:

_Dear Yugi,_

_I never told you the reason I had to move again. My father drained his funds into Egypt and, since he never used the house, sold it and sent me off to my aunt's place in England. I also got a letter, delivered by owl of all things, informing me that I had been accepted into this school. A boarding school that teaches magic. Yeah, I'm not supposed to tell anyone about this, but apparently I've got some untapped magic running in my blood that has nothing to do with the Millennium Items._

_Apparently it was late developing and I'll be tutored to catch up. Six years to catch up and one year to do it. It's a good thing I've got such a good memory. I wonder if they play Duel Monsters up in England, didn't the first time I lived there._

_I never did tell you: I know what happened with Pegasus. He's still alive, but just barely. Bakura (when he took over after who knows what happened to me) stole the Millennium Eye from Pegasus when he was in his weakened state. I still have it and the Millennium Ring. Ah, yes, Bakura's back again, but he's promised not to take over unless I give him permission, and not to hide things from me. I trust him to keep his promise, even if you don't._

_I know that this isn't the best way to tell you, but I would never have been able to tell you in person. I can tap into the powers of the Millennium Eye occasionally. I haven't put it in_ _though and Bakura doesn't seem to be able to use it._

_The plane is about to land, I'll write you again later sometime. Don't be alarmed if an owl or some other fowl delivers the next letter._

_Hopefully still a friend of yours,_

_Ryou Bakura_

Ryou smiled sadly as he folded up the letter, tucking it into his pocket. He had tried to hide the contents of the letter several times from the old woman next to him, but when she muttered something along the lines of not being able to read Chinese, he had stopped trying.

Bakura, when the plane was descending, complained loudly about not trusting anything that wasn't natural. He shut up when Ryou mentioned that the spirit wasn't exactly natural himself. However, Ryou managed to catch a feel of the spirit's panic when they touched down.

The trip flew by in a blur. He slightly remembered re-meeting his aunt, and leaving, but he vividly remembered his entrance into the house. Mrs. Figg tripped over a cat, knocked into him, and he fell into the luggage. He laid there, dazed, on top of the suitcases for a moment, before realizing that there was a cat purring on his chest. The pale teen looked at the cat before realizing that it was speaking to him.

"_Friend red coat thief."_ It purred happily and Ryou stared at it in disbelief until Bakura exclaimed in eager excitement that the cats of the world still remembered him. He had then chuckled, picked up the cat off his chest, and carried it inside.

* * *

Two days later, he was bored. He had only a couple more weeks before his aunt would be taking him shopping for school supplies, but he couldn't remember ever being this bored. Mrs. Figg suggested the park and Ryou dully followed her directions. The streets were oddly quiet, but the park was peaceful, if not empty. He sat down on a swing and looped his arm lazily around one rope; letting his thoughts drift off.

He was brought out of his thoughtless musing by a question that was more of a statement, said with quite a bit of unconcealed humor.

"You're bored aren't you?" Ryou looked up into a pair of smirking green eyes.

"Nani?" He replied, unthinking. "Sorry. Pardon?"

"You're bored." The boy repeated and smiled warmly. "I'm Harry Potter."

"Ryou Bakura, and you could tell how?"

"You're sitting in my bored spot doing exactly what I do." Ryou smiled and got up off the swing and extended his hand. The air was a little cool, but the albino didn't seem to notice.

Harry pulled a hand out of his pocket and shook it. Noticing that a few cards had fallen out of the black haired teen's pocket when he withdrew his hand, Ryou crouched down and began to pick them up. Harry joined him with a sigh. After about the third card, Ryou noticed what they were. He could feel Bakura stir from his nap in the back of his mind with his excitement.

"You duel?" He exclaimed and the spirit woke up, staying silent as he caught up with the past few moments.

"Eh, yeah, but I'm not very good at it, I just mainly collect them." Ryou looked them over. They were pretty good cards, but they would only rank the lowest in his own deck.

"Troubles?" He asked, handing what he gathered back to Harry.

"Yeah, don't really understand. Tried watching those tournaments on TV, but couldn't understand them when they were speaking Japanese."

"Well, I guess I could help you if you've got troubles with strategy, but I'm not that good of a teacher."

"_Bullshit."_ Ryou didn't understand what Bakura meant by that, so he said nothing. Harry was speaking anyways.

"That would be great! Better then sitting around doing nothing." He pointed to a house not that far away. "I live right there, but I doubt my aunt and uncle would let you come over, they seem to hate me."

"Er…" Ryou considered the options. "You know where Mrs. Figg lives?"

Harry nodded. "Go there all the time when the Dursleys want to get rid of me." Ryou decided that he did not want to ask.

"Yeah, she's my aunt, get all your cards and meet me there." Harry nodded and Ryou ran off. Harry smiled and headed home before realizing something.

'_How did he know I didn't have all my cards with me? He looks so familiar, where _have_ I seen him before?'_

_

* * *

_

AN: Heh... not very long in my opinion, I just felt like posting up the first chapter, so here you go!


	2. Chapter 2

When Harry knocked on the door a while later, Mrs. Figg answered. "Ah, yes, Ryou's upstairs, last door on the left." Harry followed the instructions after Mrs. Figg bustled off into the kitchen, knocked on the door, and then entered. He gapped and realized why Ryou assumed that he didn't have all his cards with him.

"How many cards do you have?" He exclaimed and Ryou smiled up at him. The brown-eyed teen laughed.

"Don't worry, most are just duplicates. Like you, I collect." He cleared a spot for Harry then took Harry's cards from him, shuffling through them. "What kind of deck do you use?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, slightly confused.

"Theme, kind of strategy. Do you attack with high power, sneak around with traps, defence, or effects? Light, dark, fiend, or machine?" Harry looked at him blankly and Ryou sighed. "What are your favorite cards?"

* * *

It took them a couple hours to get a perfect deck for Harry. Many of those minutes was spent by Ryou getting an idea for his own deck and leaping up to get the cards and rearranging his own deck and strategy. Ryou quickly put together an older deck of his, with the weaker monsters, and offered to duel him. Ryou let Harry win, but also made him think in order to do it. Hours went by until Harry's watch beeped. 

"Ah, damn, I got to get back. Aunt Petunia will have a fit if I'm not there by supper."

"Alright, I'll see you later maybe." Harry let himself out of the house, saying goodbye to Mrs. Figg on the way out.

"And where have you been boy?" Uncle Vernon demanded when Harry entered the house.

"Out." Came Harry's terse reply. "I'm back before you wanted me."

"Well, hurry up, we didn't wait for you."

Supper passed in silence. Harry was going over his strategy that Ryou had formed for him when he was brought out of his thoughts by the fact that he had actually stayed at the table the whole time Dudley was eating and didn't even see him. That and he had run out of food.

After he had done all the dishes and was about to go upstairs, he noticed that Dudley was still sitting at the table. He wasn't eating; no he had a mat laid out on the table and his deck of cards out.

"Duel me." Dudley demanded and Harry sat down with a pretend sigh. The duel took longer than one of their normal ones, but this time it was Harry who won.

"You… you cheated!" Dudley yelled. "There's no way you could have won!"

"I didn't cheat!" Harry protested and gathered up his cards, just encase Dudley decided to throw a tantrum. Harry retreated to the safety of his room when Uncle Vernon decided to join in the yelling.

* * *

**Domino City**

"Whadda you mean Bakura's back?" Jounouchi demanded as Yugi read Ryou's letter aloud.

"Apparently he means what he said: Bakura's back and he's behaving." Honda commented. "But what about the Sennen Eye? That's weird."

"I agree, although we never did know the extent of it's powers." Yugi added, Yami was being rather silent and he didn't know if he liked that or not.

'_What do you think Yami?'_

"_I don't know, how did Bakura come back without us noticing?"_

'_I don't know, it's rather suspicious, did Ryou-kun bring him back or did he pull himself back to the ring?'_

"_I don't know, but they're trying to talk to you again."_

"Yo, Yugi, wakey wakey."

"I'm still here Jou-kun." Yugi responded with a laugh.

"Finally, stop spacing out dude, we know you're talking with Yami, but you need to pay attention to the rest of the world to ya know." Yugi nodded at Honda and Jounouchi spoke.

"We can't really do anything about it, until Ryou decides to tell us that Bakura's being a bastard and we head over there and kick his spirit but back to where he belongs."

"Ryou-kun wouldn't tell us, Bakura-kun wouldn't let him."

"But he wouldn't lie about Bakura behaving, so he's behaving, as much as we loathe admitting it."

"Yeah, I guess, so the only thing we can do is wait."

"I _hate_ waiting though!"

* * *

AN: Decided to add this one too... just cause. 


	3. Chapter 3

The Park a few days after Harry beat Dudley

Harry noticed something was wrong when he walked into the park. Dudley and his gang were attempting to silently surround someone sitting on a swing. The thing that was the most wrong was that the person was Ryou and he was wearing a smirk, as if he knew that the gang was there and didn't care.

Harry hadn't done anything to try and attract his attention, so he was slightly startled when Ryou got up off the swing and started to walk lazily towards him.

"Hello Harry!" He called out and Harry waved back. He felt bad, now that his cousin knew that Ryou knew Harry and was on good terms with him, he would try even harder to beat him up.

The gang closed in around him and Harry started towards them but stopped when he saw Ryou's face. He was smirking and his eyes were narrowed. He edged closer, so he could hear what they were saying.

"You hang around with the freak?" Dudley sneered and Ryou raised an eyebrow.

"And what if I do?"

"Oooh, the white haired shrimp has a backbone." Bakura looked at how tall Dudley was compared to him.

"Shrimp?" His tone was amused and that confused Harry, didn't he know what they could do to him? "Sorry, but I've got business elsewhere."

"You were just sitting there on the swing, you liar!" One of the gang members sneered and Bakura turned his gaze on him.

"I got up and was leaving wasn't I?"

"Leave him alone Dudley." Harry put in as he walked up closer to his cousin.

"And why should I freak?" Harry noticed out of the corner of his eye that Bakura was reaching for his deck.

"I heard you duel, Dudley? Is that your name?" he began to shuffle his deck, standing arrogantly and very calm.

"Yeah, I duel, what's it to you?"

"Then I challenge you to a duel."

"Accepted." The duel was quickly set up and Dudley went first. Bakura pretended to struggle through the duel, taking his sweet time. Harry was a bit unnerved by the nature of Bakura's cards, although he didn't show it. Dudley began to laugh and Bakura smirked.

"You're toast whitey!" he placed down a card. Bakura flipped over a trap and eliminated the monsters that Dudley had, bringing forth his most powerful card, Dark Necrofear.

"And that takes care of your life points, shame, I was hoping for a challenge." Bakura swept up his cards into his deck and stood, going to stand by Harry. "See you later Harry." He slunk off, heading for home leaving the wizard to wonder just what had gotten into Ryou.

Bakura surrendered control to Ryou as they reached the house. He entered and a cat came bounding up to him. Ryou picked her up and carried her into the kitchen, where Mrs. Figg was cooking supper.

"Have a good time?" She asked, looking over her shoulder at him. Ryou shrugged.

"It was alright."

"Saw Harry again did you?"

"Briefly." Ryou set down the cat and got himself a glass of water.

"I forgot to tell you, didn't I? I can't believe myself, one of the most famous things in the wizarding world and I forgot."

"What is it?" He took a mouthful of water.

"Harry Potter is one of the most famous wizards, and goes to Hogwarts as well."

Ryou spat out the water all over the table. "You forgot to tell me that?" He exclaimed as his aunt gave him a dishrag to wipe up the table. "I could have been learning about the nuances of Hogwarts already."

"Well, it did indeed slip my mind. I'm surprised he hasn't said anything to me about it, he knows I'm a squib and that we're related you and I, but he never seems to make those little connections."

"I'll set the table." Ryou stated as he processed the information and began said task.

"_No wonder why his cousin calls him a freak." _Bakura snorted.

'_I wonder what he's famous for.'_

"_Why don't you ask him the next time you see him?"_

'_I might, but he might not like being famous, Yugi and Yami—'_

"_Not another word about them." _Bakura snarled and Ryou shut up. _"Just ask Mrs. Forgetful about it."_

Ryou rolled his eyes mentally and did ask.

"He was the only survivor of the killing curse, preformed by You-Know-Who."

"No, I don't know."

"The Dark Lord, Ryou, at the height of his power, he failed in killing a one year old boy. Mother's love's what saved him. Sacrificed herself."

Ryou's stomach twisted into a knot and Bakura was silent for a moment.

"_Seems to me like there's a lot of sacrificing going on in the world."_

* * *

AN: Just wanted to say thanks to those who convinced me to acctually go and find the story on my mess of a computer. You guys rock. 


	4. Chapter 4

Ryou and Bakura were all eyes as they walked through Diagon Alley.

Mrs. Figg already had a bunch of wizarding money ready for him and his supply list and was heading for the wand shop. She pushed him inside saying that she would go and get some of his other supplies. He immediately didn't like the shop; it was too dim of light and something his yami would like.

"_Would not, it's too dusty, I'd leave footprints."_ The spirit sounded haughty and Ryou rolled his eyes.

"Welcome to my shop." A dusty voice spoke from the depths of the shop and Ryou jumped. "I'm Mr. Ollivander, and who might you be?"

"Ryou, Ryou Bakura."

"Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Bakura. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

"Ano… okay." He answered and Bakura rolled his eyes.

"Now, what should we start you off with? Ten inches, ash with unicorn hair, rather whippy, give it a try." He handed Ryou a wand which he took and nearly dropped it when it started shooting fire out of the tip. "Nope, not that one."

Ryou's eyes were wide as he was handed another. The guy wanted him to try another one, with the effects of the last one?

"Twelve and a half inches, oak with phoenix feather, sturdy." This one shrieked and blew out all the windows of the shop. Ryou started stammering out replies to which Mr. Ollivander just waved his wand and the windows repaired themselves. Ryou shut up and was handed another wand.

A great deal many wands later the man stopped. "They almost seem to accept you then they don't." He peered into Ryou's eyes. "You don't happen to be schizophrenic do you?"

Ryou blinked in surprise. "A schizophrenic? W-why do you ask?"

"You are aren't you?" He nodded to himself. "It's a new thing that was discovered recently, but Schizos need two different wands, one for each personality, or one with two cores." He then bustled into the back bringing out an armload of boxes. Ryou went through all of those ones as well, holding two different wands at the same time. Bakura was starting to get annoyed.

"_Ask for one with a phoenix feather and a unicorn tail with willow wood."_ He growled out and Ryou repeated it dutifully.

"Phoenix and unicorn, eh? An interesting combination." He went off and found one that he had requested. Ryou took it and could feel Bakura also taking a hold of it. The floor lit up in the symbol of the eye of Ra underneath his feet, spreading to form the Sennen Ring. His hair rose as a wind whipped around the shop and Mr. Ollivander shielded his eyes as the eye of Ra appeared on his forehead. Everything faded away after a moment and the wind died down, letting Mr. Ollivander look again.

"Well, the Wizard has never chosen a wand before and had it be the one that accepts him." He nodded and Ryou then paid for it. As soon as he was out of the shop, someone ran into him, spilling books everywhere. Ryou was the first to recover. It was a red-headed girl, about his age, maybe a few years younger.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going." She began to pick up her books before anyone stepped on them and Ryou helped her, noting that they weren't of the best quality.

"_She's pretty shabby herself, look at her robes."_ It was an almost scathing comment, but Bakura seemed to have been trying to be nice, for Ryou's sake and sanity. Ryou agreed with him.

"That's okay, I wasn't looking either."

"I'm Ginny, Ginny Weasly."

"Ryou Bakura." She looked at him and didn't say anything, chewing her bottom lip nervously.

"_She's staring."_

'_She probably just doesn't know what to say, awkward moments, you know.'_

"Ah, I … I should probably get going…" She began and trailed off. Ryou nodded. Someone called her and she snapped her attention to them. "Well, see you." She ran off.

"_No, I don't understand awkward moments."_ Ryou couldn't decide whether or not he was being sarcastic so didn't answer.

Ryou ended up glad that he had listened to Mrs. Figg ramble on about the little details of the wizarding world on their trip to London. It really helped him out in Madame Mankin's Robe shop where he met his first Malfoy.

* * *

Okay, I need a character that everyone hates... not Ron, Hermione, Harry or Draco though. Or Longbottom. I also need a good reason for you to hate them, kay? And… should Ryou/Bakura be able to talk to snakes because of the Ring, like how they can talk to cats? And, what's that book that has a title like 'befuddle your enemies' or something? I don't have the first three books so I can't go look it up.

This is up quicker than the last one, most definitely. I love reviewers and if I feel proud of my story, I write more! (that's a hint)


	5. Chapter 5

He first sat down on the stool Madame mentioned, the only other one, next to the pale blond boy.

"New to Hogwarts?" He asked, obviously bored. Ryou nodded politely. "I'm in the sixth year, just getting my robes re-hemmed. Know what house you're going to be in?"

"No. Unless you know for sure you're going into Slytherin, you never know beforehand." He answered carefully. The boy snorted.

"You know your stuff. I _am_ in Slytherin by the way. Draco Malfoy." He seemed proud of who he was. Ryou nodded in acknowledgement.

"Ryou Bakura."

"So, considering you're not ignorant of the way Hogwarts runs, I assume that you're not muggle born." Ryou shook his head.

"My ancestors had magic, but none of my recent family has ever gone to a wizarding school. They had no magic in them."

"No magic?" Malfoy asked incredibly, "What kind of wizard lets magic die out in family?" Ryou was saved from answering by Madame Malkin returning with his finished robes.

"There you go dear." She handed him the garments and shoed him out before turning to Malfoy. "Back again Mr. Malfoy? I swear, you need to fix your robes every year!"

* * *

Ryou lingered after that in the bookstore, running his fingers over titles until one quivered and let off a bang, causing dust to fly everywhere and make Ryou cough. The storekeeper bustled over and plucked the book off the shelf as it tried to struggle out of his grip.

"Thank you, I've been looking for this one for weeks. Need any help?"

Ryou handed him his list and the man bustled off to get him his books. Bakura complained that he was bored, but trailed off as Ryou's eyes fastened onto an old faded book called: _Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More_ by _Professor Vindictus Viridian_. Bakura, ignoring previous promises to ask permission beforehand, switched into control of the body and lovingly pulled the book off the shelf.

Skimming through the contents list, never mind the fact that it was in English and he was borrowing Ryou's memories of the language, he found a section that he thought would be interesting to use on a certain short pharaoh and turned to that page. Ryou watched over Bakura's shoulder, wishing he knew how and had the courage to take over like Bakura did.

* * *

Ryou collapsed on his bed later that night, worn out and exhausted. He had ended getting the book Bakura had been looking through, with a promise to let him read it later, so he could take back over and continue getting his supplies. Bakura was already asleep and Ryou wished he could be too, but his mind was whirling too fast for him to do so. He pulled out one of the books he had gotten for school and began to read. The magical theory bored him quickly enough that he drifted off, the book falling onto the floor.

The next morning after getting ready for the day, he bounded down the stairs and right into Tom, the bartender.

"Whoa, you in a hurry or something?" He asked with a laugh. Ryou answered with a smile.

"No, just in a good mood, any shops you think I should check out?"

"Quiddich Supplies and the new Joke shop of the Weasleys." He answered automatically then held up a plate of muffins. "Muffin?"

Ryou took a pair of muffins off the plate. "Thanks Tom."

"No problem!"

* * *

Since his aunt had already gotten him his potion supplies, parchment, quills, and etcetera, he only had to shop for things he wanted himself. He went through the Quiddich shop, but nothing in particular caught his eye.

After the Quiddich shop, he went to the Magical Menagerie. He looked through all of the owls there and found that he didn't really want one, even though they were beautiful birds. The cats all tried to get his attention, but Bakura said to wait and see what else there was before taking over his body and heading over to the section farther in.

With an almost childish glee, he stopped in front of a small black snake with a single emerald green stripe down its back and gave the control back to Ryou.

"_Buy him."_ He demanded and Ryou got out of his crouch. Ryou was about to walk away when Bakura added an almost childish, _"Please?"_

The hikari sighed and continued to gaze at the small reptile. Ryou really didn't like snakes all that much and he really didn't want to own one at all. It had been sleeping until Ryou tapped softly on the glass.

"**_Muh?"_** The snake mumbled as it blinked its eyes. **_"Oh, just another sstupid human. I'll bite you if you touch me."_**

"_Really now?"_ Bakura asked with a sarcastic undertoneand the snake jerked slightly.

"**_A Sspeaker!" _**It exclaimed then touched its nose to the glass. **_"No, you're not a sspeaker, your mouth did not move!"_**

"_But we can still hear you, would you like us to take you from here and make sure no one who can't understand you takes you?"_

"_**Yesss, I was getting lonely, the humansss don't care for me and leave me all alone."**_

The serpent sounded so miserable that Ryou let Bakura take control and buy the snake. As Bakura made his way to the exit of the shop, he nearly ran into a girl. The yet nameless snake raised his head from around Bakura's neck and hissed. She shrieked slightly before backing up a few steps and sniffing disdainfully.

"What, you don't like him? I don't think he likes that." Bakura sneered and she narrowed her eyes.

"I don't care if a _snake_ doesn't like me, a _snake's_ opinion doesn't matter." She brushed past him and up to the counter where the man's eyes widened in recognition.

"You're the one who bought that crazy cat aren't you?" He exclaimed. Bakura paid no attention to them and walked out of the store, giving control to Ryou who let out a startled yelp at the feeling of the snake around his neck.

"_Relax, yadonoushi. He's not going to hurt you."_

'_I know, but it's such a weird feeling.'_ He shivered slightly and the snake hissed.

"**_I am not weird!"_** It snapped. Ryou chewed his lip slightly.

'_I didn't call you weird, I just said that touching you is weird.'_ He paused. _'Would you please stay in my pocket for a while, I need to get used to you.'_

"**_Mmmm… I ssssuposse sso."_** The snake slithered up onto the outside of his robes and spiralled down his arm to his pocket. **_"Sstrange to have two humanss in one head."_**

Ryou could hear Bakura laughing in the background.

* * *

"Weasley… Weasley… Ah! Weasley!" Ryou exclaimed as he finally found the shop he was looking for. He paused and looked at it, comparing it to the rest of the buildings around. "Its… so…"

"_Bright."_ Bakura finished. _"Are you going in or just going to stand here?"_ Ryou flushed and darted in. There was a quack of a duck as he opened the door and all of a sudden he was sporting a very real duck bill. It felt terribly odd to the hikari.

Ryou was horrified while Bakura cracked up in laughter in the back of his head. A red head popped up from the back room and his face split into a grin. "Hey Fred, someone actually got the duck!"

An identical twin popped up behind the first one. "No really George, I do believe that's a pigeon!"

The beak faded and the twins gestured for Ryou to come in. His cheeks were a flaming red. "The door picks a random person and every one who gets some part of their body transformed…" One twin started and the other picked up where he left off.

"Gets a free package of a variety of items!"

"Instructions for each…"

"Are inside as well."

They presented him with a perfectly ordinary, paper wrapped, brown box. Ryou took it gingerly. "Ano… thank you."

The two of them bowed and said in unison. "Our pleasure!" They then paused and one grinned while the other asked. "Is your hair naturally that color?"

"My hair?" In a slight panic, Ryou's eyes opened wide and one of his hands flew up so he could pull a few strands to make sure that they hadn't changed it while he wasn't looking. Once he saw it was white he sighed in relief. _'Oh good.'_

Bakura cracked up again.

* * *

AN: I don't like the confrontation with Malfoy. And if someone doesn't understand, Draco was in there, Ryou went in and got his robes, and then Madame Malkin went to help Draco. So Draco only arrived moments before Ryou and since Ryou was getting new school robes and Draco was only getting a re-hemming, he got to go first.

I need a name for the snake and a gender… and what all he/she can do. I just haven't quite decided beyond one ability that I know he/she's going to have.


	6. Chapter 6

Ryou spent the rest of the time before the day to head to Hogwarts arrived reading his course books. With a bit of experimenting, he and his dark half had discovered something very useful. Ryou sat at the head of the bed with his knees bent and a book propped open on his lap. Right above that rested another book. The two of them, both wanting to look through separate books, had discovered the ability to both be in control of the body. As long as the two books were in the same general area, they could both see the writing and when their minds were 'distracted', there was no protest to either of them turning respective pages.

Satori, as the black and green snake was now named, decided that he was going to get Ryou used to him. If it meant slithering over various parts of his body or wrapping himself around Ryou's neck or arms, then he would do that. Even though Satori was only a foot long and an inch and half thick, he still managed to explore everything and everywhere.

With Ryou and Bakura working together to learn 'magic', they found that it was incredibly easy. Spells were learnt and implanted into memory and both of them found that the theory made sense. After reading through most of the books that they had gotten, Bakura had taken the body – with permission this time – and went out to explore.

They ended up in Knockturn Alley.

* * *

They were wearing a black cloak with the hood up, and the way Bakura prowled down the street caused the few other people to shy away from him. They picked up a couple more interesting books – one on the barely legal Dark Arts as well – before they ran into someone they never expected to see.

"Malik!" Bakura hissed in surprise, causing the blond to spin around. Surprisingly, the Egyptian seemed to look like he belonged there. He was wearing a set of fine black robes with a golden embroidered trim. His hood was up, but there was no mistaking him or his gold jewelry.

"Bakura?" Malik exclaimed softly before glancing uneasily around the Alley. "Come with me, we'll talk somewhere more... private."

Once they were settled into a private booth in a fairly clean pub and Malik had put up a bunch of anti-eavesdropping wards, they began talking.

"I never expected you to turn up in Knockturn." Malik started, sipping calmly at a drink Ryou was sure he couldn't pronounce the name of.

"I never expected to be in Knockturn, though I have to admit it's much more... interesting than Diagon."

"I completely agree with you. How long have you known about your magic?"

"This summer. You?"

"That's not long. I've known all my life actually, it's what's helped me with controlling so much of the Shadow Realm."

Bakura split himself off from Ryou into a spirit form, invisible to all but the two of them and Satori.

"You never mentioned anything." The spirit growled.

Malik shrugged. "I wasn't supposed to. It's against Wizarding Law. It's not like I used _this_ magic against you."

"True..."

"You never went to school?" Ryou inquired.

"No, I was never above ground until after I went crazy."

Bakura snorted and Ryou suppressed a smile.

Even though Malik had never gone there, he knew quite a bit about Hogwarts and even more about the people the two of them were going to be in frequent contact with. He offered up some interesting information that he was positive that hardly anyone else knew, like the juicy past of one Harry Potter, the boy's parent's and parent's friends and enemies, and on the secret organization: The Order of the Phoenix.

Bakura was shocked speechless to find out that Ishtar was a member, though he didn't go to many meetings. More often then not he passed his information through Ryou's to be potions professor, Severus Snape. Malik offered to set up a meeting between them, but Ryou declined, not wanting the teacher to single him out or treat him any differently than the other students. Malik had adopted an amused expression but wouldn't explain why it was so amusing.

Malik took them on a brief tour of Knockturn Alley and pointed out a few useful items that they might want.

Barely a minute after they had departed ways with Malik, a faint voice spoke to them in their minds.

"_**Mind-speakers, there is a speaker in the busy alley along with a wolf-man and a changing woman. I will let you hear them."**_

"_C'mon Harry, I know you don't want to go back there, but we have to, it's not safe out."_

"_Tonks, I am well aware that it's not safe, but I don't want to be cooped up in that house! It drove Sirius mad and it will drive me crazy as well!"_

"_Harry, it's-"_

_There was a frustrated sigh. "I _know_ it's not my fault! Every member of the Order keeps telling me that when all I want to do is remember the good times with him!"_

Ryou frowned mentally and Bakura picked up his pace through the alley.

"_Don't mention that in public Harry! You don't know who might be listening." There was a far off cry of 'Harry' and the sounds faded away._

They arrived where Satori was hidden just as the busy haired girl from the Menagerie jumped him in a hug. Bakura suddenly felt an overwhelming need to get away. He scooped up the slightly dusty snake and wove his way through the crowds back to the inn.

'_Why did you leave like that?' _Ryou inquired. _'And what was that, that you did?'_ He added to Satori as he wiped the serpent down with a warm damp cloth.

"_I'm pretty sure that girl doesn't like 'me'."_ Bakura answered.

The snake hummed as he coiled up in Ryou's lap. _**"I relayed what I could hear. There is a bond developing between our minds. You can call me from far distances and I can respond. I can also home in on you and make my way to you in a matter of moments."**_

'_How?'_

"_**I am a magical snake. I use the shadows to travel. Perhaps I will be able to help you walk through the shadows if the bond grows more. Relaying has made me tired. I will sleep now."**_

Satori said nothing more on the subject and the other two left him alone to sleep.

* * *

They didn't see Malik again, though it was understandable as they hardly ever left the inn. Ryou was significantly more at ease with Satori, but he wasn't sure he'd be as calm with another snake.

Malik had mentioned something about the potions needing more study than the rest so Ryou spent plenty of time reading through and memorizing different reactions. In a book they had picked up there was a chapter on something called 'Occlumency' and Bakura had gone through that chapter very carefully. After finding 'their' mind, Bakura deemed it safe. Their mind was surrounded by the Shadow Realm and their favored monsters.

There was nothing more eventful during the time drawing up to the start of school than mastering a few useful spells and the organizing of his three compartment trunk. One for books, one for his personal items, and a hidden compartment with half a dozen security features that they hid the darker or more valuable items in.

And then it was time to go to Kings Cross.

* * *

A/N: I'm well aware that it's short. I didn't actually do much in this chapter, besides give Satori (and there's no meaning behind that at all) a name and a gender along with show you one of his abilities.

For someone who asked, everything in italics, but not bold, is inside their head. If Harry were to overhear them talking to Satori, he would only hear Satori's side of things, but not what Satori Relays.

I'm aware this chapter is rushed. I really didn't want to write it and for some reason Malik decided to drop in. Totally unplanned I swear. On another note, what classes should 'they' take and who should be good at what and why? I'm not planning on doing Dinivation unless I get a good idea.


End file.
